Don't Be Yellow When It Comes To Color

An Expert Says To Go Bold

We're not talking about the weather, or even the stock market. Eiseman is talking about color -- yellow, to be specific.

Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute and consultant to many industries, says we'll be seeing a lot of yellow in the spring in fashion and residential design, where it has "gained wide acceptance in the last decade." Eiseman's color pronouncements to the media gathered for the International Home Furnishings Market in April proved true in many style-minded showrooms, such as Century's inviting venue for the Oscar de la Renta collection, where vibrant yellow walls created an upbeat mood.

"Yellow," Eiseman said, "is the new orange. It's part of the evolution of color; you go to the one next door."

But back to orange, which she said is still important, just not quite as strong.

"What happened to orange? Once it was considered cheap, offbeat," she said. But orange began to be recognized as a multicultural color. Upscale designers embraced it in fashion, upholstery, even industrial design. Softer shades, such as apricot and peach, will carry on the orange family tradition this year, Eiseman predicted.

And to take the yellow range even further, expect honey tones such as chamois and butter. Then we'll move into blond -- pale, golden shades in furniture, textiles, leathers and laminates, she said.

Reds continue as a force. Eiseman sees intense reds, oranges and hot pink in casual furniture. Her forecast of reds combined with golden tones and reds with honey proved true in the high-end Pearson showroom, where stylish fabrics lead trends and no one is timid about color.

Purple keeps hanging around as a fashionable accent color.

"Mauve -- the dreaded M word -- is back," Eiseman said. "But it's been reinvented. It's a new color, and it will return in interesting combinations, such as an aubergine shade and orange from Calvin Klein."

Green has moved beyond trends.

"It is now symbolic of sustainability, of a social movement to preserve the world. It is the color for the 21st century," Eiseman said. Yellow-greens will continue to be important into 2005. She also sees grayed greens emerging, but in the Martha Stewart collection at Bernhardt they had already arrived.

"We're living in such a stressful time that natural, organic colors seem real in an artificial world. All colors in nature work with green. Greens are nature's neutrals."

Other colors trending in, according to the expert, are:

Brown: There's a new perception. Brown is OK in fashion. The younger generation sees it as rich and robust. It started with Starbucks and espresso.

Black-and-white: It looks sleek, both modern and retro; best with stainless or silver, inspired by the Airstream trailer.

Blue: Blue is calming; it's all about sky, water and escape. Try pale blue on the ceiling in a windowless interior.

"In the '70s, consumers were given colors, and everyone [used them]. It's not like that today. Consumers dictate what they want,"said Eiseman, whose latest book, The Color Answer Book (Capital Books, $30), addresses everything from wardrobe to environment and health.